Not sure there’s any middle ground when it comes to the aftermath of a head stamp, but Tyrone Mings is sticking to an extreme.
The Bournemouth back was banned for five matches after stepping on the head of Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic during Saturday’s match at Old Trafford, and Ibrahimovic received three matches for later elbowing Mings in the head.
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Mings, who turns 24 on Monday, maintains that he did not step on Ibrahimovic’s head on purpose, and is baffled that the Football Association has banned him for an “accidental collision. The defender goes as far as to say that his foot “did not change course” on the play as he rushed back to defend.
The video is above -- start around 1:26 for the incident -- and at full speed you did get Mings’ drift. Yet the whole idea of his foot not changing course can also be used to make the opposite point, that Mings decided to step on Ibrahimovic’s head the moment he saw the opportunity.
Do you buy his words? Pardon the cynic in me for rolling my eyes, though Mings’ reasoning is not nearly as bad as Ibrahimovic contending that the defender “jumped into” his elbow.
